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Algeria Helps Cuba Fill Gap in Petroleum Products Supply

Algeria was the supplier of choice in 2017 when Cuba needed to fill its oil supply gap. The island nation has been historically almost exclusively dependent on Venezuela for supplies of petroleum products, but Algeria became the supplier of choice when supplies from Venezuela dropped sharply.

In 2017 Venezuela saw difficulties at its Cienfuegos refinery, with the refinery’s production dropping from its nameplate capacity of 65,000 bpd to only 24,000 bpd. According to reports, Cuba imported 2.1 million barrels from Algeria in 2017 and intends to do the same in 2018.

“We delivered in 2017 three times 700,000 barrels, a total of 2.1 million barrels in Cuba. We will do the same this year,” Omar Maaliou, vice-chairman of Sonatrach, Algeria’s state-owned oil company, told Reuters. Adding that the first 700,000 barrels were about to be transferred to the island.